‘Queen Bees,’ a Geriatric ‘Mean Girls,’ Is an Unexpected Netflix Hit

‘Queen Bees,’ a Geriatric ‘Mean Girls,’ Is an Unexpected Netflix Hit

A surprisingly stacked cast — including James Caan in his final role — features in this low-impact success story

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Jordan Hoffman

The titular Queen Bees of “Queen Bees” Gravitas Ventures

It’s fun to peek at Netflix’s top 10 from time to time. The titles listed there are usually what you’d expect: an in-house film with a big star, like the Kevin Hart vehicle Lift, or a mainstream whopper that doubles as a babysitter, like The Super Mario Bros. Movie. They’ve both been high in the ranking all week, but assuming these numbers don’t lie, a beneath-the-radar title has generated some buzz on the biggest streaming platform: the low-budget retirement community rom-com Queen Bees, which had a medium-sized theatrical release in 2021.

At first, I thought this may have been people accidentally clicking play, thinking this was the current Jason Statham action picture, The Beekeeper, but the associated images, like ones of a bunch of older ladies doing water aerobics, make it clear this is not the case.

So, like so many in America are apparently doing, I watched Queen Bees, and I’m here to answer all your questions.

The ladies get their workout while gazing at Pablo the pool instructor’s abs, and making racy comments. Gravitas Ventures

What the hell is Queen Bees?

This is an agreeable little movie, under two hours, about a widow moving into a retirement community called Pine Grove, learning to make new friends and even finding romance. Honestly, it makes living in an old age home look fantastic — like a cruise ship on land — but that’s because no one ever once mentions how expensive this place must be. Also, this movie has a surprisingly stacked cast. Older actors want to work!

Yeah, you mentioned the cast. I don’t want to embarrass myself, but who are these people?

Our lead, the kind-but-stubborn widow who nearly burns her house down and slowly realizes she shouldn’t live alone anymore, is 91-year-old Ellen Burstyn. You absolutely know her as the mother in The Exorcist. She won an Oscar for playing the lead in Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, plus a Tony, several Emmys and Golden Globes, and she’s been in a hundred things.

Oh, right, right. Was she also the evil nurse in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?

No, that was Louise Fletcher, but they kinda look alike. Anyway, the fact that this movie works as well as it does is truly because Ellen Burstyn is a riveting performer. It isn’t because of the script, which is considerably rote and occasionally cringeworthy.

So, when she first gets to the place, she runs afoul of the mean girls, called the “Queen Bees”?

Exactly. It’s basically Mean Girls redux. They don’t like her sitting at their table in the dining room, but then let her into their group (because she is a good bridge player.) There is some back-stabbing and shenanigans — really, not that different from planting a burn book in the hallway — but ultimately, everyone learns a lot and grows and becomes friends. It’s nice!

Behold the “Queen Bees.” Don’t get stung. Gravitas Ventures

Who are the Queen Bees?

The leader and most nasty B (and someone does imply that B stands for bitch) is Jane Curtin — and she is terrifying. Curtin was one of the original members of Saturday Night Live (she is the target of Dan Aykroyd’s taunt “Jane, you ignorant slut,” which was how comedy was back in 1974.) She also starred in the popular ’80s sitcom Kate & Allie (six seasons!) opposite Susan Saint James, then was in 3rd Rock From the Sun, which, now that I think about it, is funny because French Stewart, also on that ’90s sitcom, has a small part as the harried retirement administrator at Pine Grove. I hope it was a nice reunion for them.

There are two other bees. One is Loretta Divine, probably best known as the beauty salon owner in Waiting to Exhale, but she has been in a zillion shows and films and was in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls. She gets the best line in the whole picture when she agrees that Pine Grove is just like high school, “only in high school, we graduate; here we die.” The other is Ann-Margret.

Ann-Margret, who wears a lot of fun outfits in ‘Queen Bees’ Gravitas Ventures

Remind me who Ann-Margret is?

Ann-Margret co-starred in the only good Elvis movie, Viva Las Vegas.

Wait, that is actually good? I always figured that was some corny junk.

Corny, yes, but it is legitimately great, not so-bad-you-must-see-it like other Elvis movies. Just watch this:

Anyway, they give her the Rue McClanahan role in Queen Bees, as she maintains several suitors, including Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown from Back to the Future).

You mentioned that Ellen Burstyn finds romance. Does she find it with Christopher Lloyd, too?

No, that is reserved for James Caan, the star of The Godfather and Thief and Elf and Rollerball. Sadly, this was Caan’s last film role. He died in June 2022 at the age of 82, a little over a year after Queen Bees had its small theatrical release.

And while he does maintain his natural charm, I must report that he’s kinda in rough shape through some of this, hunched over and not moving too quickly. But the spirit of Queen Bees is not to dwell on the negatives but to find value and revel in every moment of life (so long as you can afford to stay at a place like Pine Grove.)

Do we ever see a grove of pines at Pine Grove?

No, and it drove me nuts.

Are there any Viagra jokes made in Queen Bees?

Indeed, there are. Here’s Christopher Lloyd’s face right after one is made.

Christopher Lloyd plays the ladies’ man of Pine Grove in ‘Queen Bees’ Gravitas Ventures

Do you know where I can get Viagra sent to me directly without a doctor’s prescription?

Check your spam filter.

Is there a scene where some of the ladies smoke a joint, like in the movie I’ll See You in My Dreams, where Blythe Danner also plays a widow who begins a late-in-life romance?

Of course.

Are there strange lines that, should Queen Bees continue its success on Netflix, could conceivably become memes?

Behold!

Ellen Burstyn drinks your cheesy milkshake in ‘Queen Bees’ Gravitas Ventures

Do the ladies and their ceaseless flirtations create an unsafe working environment for the ripped pool aerobics instructor, Pablo?

Indeed, they do.

Does Pablo seem to mind?

You’d have to ask Pablo, but I doubt contacting HR would help, considering the other corruption issues with management at Pine Grove.

Wait, what?!? You made Pine Grove sound like a paradise!

Pine Grove is nice because of the relationships that are ultimately built between our lead characters, which even extends toward Ellen Burstyn reconnecting with her daughter. But there’s a little bit of dirty dealing going on here.

Remember I mentioned French Stewart earlier? Well, he runs Pine Grove, and he’s trying to land some kind of real estate deal. When Ellen Burstyn first moves in, she has a lot of trouble adjusting, and it looks like she is going to leave. Burstyn’s daughter, who works in real estate, tells him that he must do whatever it takes to make her happy and, if so, she’ll somehow make the deal of his dreams come true.

So what happens is… wait, do you really want me to spoil the only thing that can be considered a plot point in the otherwise breezy Queen Bees?

Yes, I’ve read this far; you might as well.

Okay, so French Stewart initially hired James Caan to woo Ellen Burstyn so she’d stick around.

James Caan, perhaps not what he seems, in ‘Queen Bees.’ Gravitas Ventures

Oh no! Un faux amour? How terrible! And this blows up in everyone’s face?

Yes, naturally. Jane Curtin exposes the secret when she is mad at Burstyn but then regrets it, and it is a colossal screw-up.

Please tell me this all works out. I want nothing but happiness for my Queen Bees!

Yes, yes, it’s okay. At some point during the courtship, James Caan took Katy Perry’s advice and caught feels. And Ellen Burstyn forgives him. They even get married at the end.

Mazel tov!

Well, don’t get too excited. Ann-Margret has a stroke and Loretta Devine’s cervical cancer returns.

Oh, my God!

What do you want from me? I didn’t make this movie.

Okay, well, who did?

That would be one Michael Lembeck, whose previous work includes directing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Tooth Fairy and Tim Allen in the second and third Santa Clause movies. He directed a slew of television and even won an Emmy for directing an episode of Friends (“The One After the Super Bowl”). Prior to that, he was a successful character actor. Did you ever see The In-Laws?

No.

Well, he was in that as Peter Falk’s son. Great movie.

Is Queen Bees also a “great movie”?

What are you trying to do to me, make Ellen Burstyn feel bad? She’s a living legend!

No, it isn’t great. But it’s pleasant, with occasional moments that shine. For every two scenes that are repetitive and flat, there’s another that reminds you that just because someone is old doesn’t mean they aren’t alive and funny and intelligent and deserving of a great film.

Maybe the streaming success of Queen Bees will inspire producers to continue on this path and give us something to truly buzz about.